On some passenger vehicles (e.g., cars and trucks), four tires are used. These include a front right tire, a front left tire, a rear right tire, and a rear left tire. However, with some vehicles, “dualies” are used. Dualies comprise two, separate tires that face each other and are typically used in the rear tire positions. Thus, if two dualies are used (each having two tires), the vehicle will have six tires.
The front face of any tire includes a tire rim and a front facing surface (often called the whitewall). With dualies, the first tire is first mounted on the axle in a position inner most to the vehicle. The front surface of this first tire is mounted closest to the vehicle and the rear surface is disposed so as to be furthest from the vehicle. Then, the second tire of the dualie arrangement is mounted on the axle and this tire is the outermost tire in the dualie arrangement. The rear surface of the second tire faces the rear surface of the first tire. The front surface of the second tire faces the exterior environment and is the outermost tire surface of the dualie arrangement.
Tire pressure monitors are now mandated on all passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) less than 10000 pounds. A tire pressure monitor senses tire pressure and this pressure is often transmitted to a receiving unit in the vehicle. In some situations, when the tire pressure falls below a threshold, the user can be informed before problems (e.g., a flat tire) can occur with the tire.
In some cases, the receiver unit in the vehicle needs to know the identities of the tires and where these tires are located. Tires are often identified by identifiers (IDs). The process by which a particular ID (and hence tire) is associated with a specific position (e.g., front left, front right, and so forth) is known as a localization process.
Various types of localization processes have been used. Unfortunately, previous localization processes are not capable of determining the identities and positions of each of the two tires in dualie arrangements. As a result, user dissatisfaction with these approaches has resulted.
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